ACROSS THE NATION.

Families lose ruling in strangler case

December 26, 2001|By Items compiled from Tribune news services.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS — A judge ruled Monday that the state does not need to share evidence with the families of a man who confessed to being the 1960s Boston Strangler and a woman believed to be the final victim.

The judge said the families of Albert DeSalvo, who confessed to the killings, and victim Mary Sullivan are not entitled to evidence from the crime scene because the investigation into the murders remains open.

The families believe DeSalvo did not kill Sullivan and say DeSalvo confessed in 1965 because he wanted the notoriety and fortune a confession would bring.

DeSalvo later recanted the confession and was not charged in the killings. He was murdered in a state prison in 1973 while serving time on an unrelated rape conviction.

This month, a team of forensic scientists working with the two families said tests on Sullivan's clothing found DNA from two individuals that did not match Sullivan or DeSalvo's DNA.